Conforto, a Mets offensive prospect who singled twice for the United States in its 10-1 victory over the World Team in the Futures Game, said he was happy he had not focused solely on baseball as a high school athlete.

Most countries treat the biennial games as something of a good-will exchange for amateur athletes, but not the Russians, who fielded a star-studded team stacked with 18 gold-medal winners from the real Olympics.